News

Flattened: How the COVID-19 Pandemic Knocked Financially Insecure Alabamians on their Backs and Widened the Racial Prosperity Gap

Between May and September 2020, Alabamaba Applesseed and partners surveyed 389 financially insecure Alabamaians. The authors documented how daily lives and financial circumstances changed for respondents since March 13, 2020, …

The High Price of Using Justice Fines and Fees to Fund Government

The Vera Institute of Justice released a series of research reports detailing the fines and fees levied by government agencies in Florida and New York, the impact of fines and …

Who Must Pay to Regain the Vote? A 50-State Survey (Update)

This report is an updated review of each U.S. state’s voting rights laws as they relate to payment of court fines, fees, and restitution.

First Steps Toward Equitable Fines and Fees Practices: Policy Guidance on Ability-to-Pay Assessments, Payment Plans, and Community Service

Jurisdictions across the country continue to impose disproportionate fines and fees. Until reform can be made, assessing a person’s ability to pay is critical to achieving fairness and equity in …

Considering the Process of Debt Collection in Community Corrections: The Case of the Monetary Compliance Unit

Before the creation of the monetary collection unit (MCU) in 2012, individuals with outstanding legal financial obligations (LFOs) from criminal cases faced a prolonged cycle of probation or parole supervision. …

The Price of Justice: Fines, Fees and the Criminalization of Poverty in the United States

Mass incarceration and the rising cost of the justice system correlate with the high number and value of fines and fees imposed throughout the justice system. As federal funding for …

Monetary Sanctions, Legal and Collateral Consequences, and Probation & Parole

Increasingly, jurisdictions have elevated their dependence on the offender-funded justice model, in which legal financial obligations (LFOs) have become prevalent. Regardless of their intended function, in the criminal justice system, …

Community Success Initiative, et al. v. Moore, et al.

In North Carolina, roughly 70,000 individuals are prohibited from voting because they have a prior felony conviction, and in many cases individuals are disenfranchised solely because of their inability to …

Champagne v. Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson, LLP

Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson, LLP (“Linebarger”) has an exclusive contract with the Iowa Judicial Branch to act as the sole private company collecting court debt, including court costs, such …

Unveiling the Necrocapitalist Dimensions of the Shadow Carceral State: On Pay-to-Stay to Recoup the Cost of Incarceration

States and local jurisdictions across the United States impose pay-to-stay fees to generate revenue. Sociologist Brittany Friedman analyzes this practice using a necrocapitalism framework—a form of capitalism linked to death …